commentary

Once again proving that I will listen to any nonsense Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer spit, I fought crippling 3AM sleepiness just to get through this commentary (hidden under the "Extras" buttons) for the latest Venture Bros.episode, "The Buddy System". That's right, no need to wait for the Season Three DVD to come out, because you can learn about Doc and Jackson's thoughts on above ground pools right now. Best of all, it's video, so we feel the full impact of their wildly off-topic conversations and also get to admire how these two look more like rock stars than the minds behind Metalocalypse. Compared to their DVD commentaries, though, they managed to offer quite a bit of episode-specific information.

Season 2 of My Name is Earl comes out on DVD next week, and I've been fortunate enough to have a sneak peak at the DVD set and special features. Overall, this was a good season, although I'm not convinced it was as strong as the first. Most of what makes the show stand out is its offbeat humor and non-sequitur comedy. I see it as sort of a live action version of Family Guy.

But during this season, we saw more of a story arc and more episodes that dealt with backstory and not necessarily with items on Earl's list. And while I'm usually a fan of character development, sometimes I just want to see some well written humor. Fortunately there's plenty of that packed into this four-disc set too.

The always-informative Simpsons Channel has news from the always-informative TVShowsOnDVD.com about the upcoming DVD release of the Simpsons Movie. The information was relayed to TVShowsOnDVD through some folks in the industry, so everything I mention here is subject to change. Still, I couldn't resist this opportunity to whet fans' appetites.

The DVD will be out on December 18, and it will be circular. Also, the film will be available in both full screen and widescreen formats. I don't know why you'd want to buy full screen, unless you want to sit and pretend you're watching an extra-long episode of the TV series.

I'm sitting here watching Robot Chicken Star Wars online with video commentary from creators Seth Green and Matt Senreich, and in the opening sequence Green explains how the animators actual animated a real AT-AT toy to duplicate the Imperial Walker scene from The Empire Strikes Back. Green mistakenly refers to it as a Hasbro toy, but as all Star Wars fans know, it was Kenner that made the toys, not Hasbro.

Of course, the fact that I would even know that makes me exactly the sort of Star Wars geek the folks at Robot Chicken were aiming for. I hate to admit I wasn't as floored by the special as I was hoping, and somewhat disappointed to see sequences reused from past episodes, but it was clear, based on the special; the interludes with Green, Senreich and Breckin Meyer; and the aforementioned commentary, that these guys really love Star Wars, and that alone made it worthwhile.

I have to give an initial shout out to Fantabulizer for reminding me that, despite the end of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or, as I call it, "the greatest show ever"), Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett are still riffing away on bad movies as The Film Crew.

The three men are back in form riffing on wacky B movies, though this time they're not channeling through plastic puppets. Instead, their riffing is done like any ol' DVD audio commentary for movies that don't have commentaries, but should. You can go to their site now and vote for which of four movies you'd like to see them skewer first. Also, check out a trailer here. Sure, it's not quite the same as being back on the Satellite of Love, but it put this long-time fan back in his high school days where he began to amass his collection of VHS copies of MST3k taped from his parents' gigantic satellite dish.

If you are a fan of Heroes, you may have already found Greg Beeman's blog as you search the internet for more clues about the show. But even if you're not a fan of the show, it's still worth a look. While the focus is obviously on Heroes, there is enough behind the scenes stuff to make it an interesting read for anyone that just loves TV. The posts read like a good DVD commentary track with Beeman talking about what he wanted to achieve with a certain episode, or why he did things a certain way.

He's very forthcoming in his comments. About the latest episode, which he directed, he says, "Also, truthfully, we're still learning what stories to tell and how to tell them. Do we always need to see the whole cast in just a handful of scenes? Or should we, sometimes, concentrate on just a few of our characters and give them more intensively developed stories." And if all that isn't enough, there are also storyboards, an interview with Ali Larter, and a large collection of behind the scenes pictures, like the shot of Hayden Panettiere on the autopsy table waiting for her scene. Fun stuff.

For those of you who have been clamoring for a season one DVD of How I Met Your Mother, you don't have too much longer to wait. Fox announced in August that the DVD will come out on November 21; they released the cover art for the show yesterday, which you can see to your right.

TVShowsonDVD.com also confirmed yesterday that the show is being presented in full-frame, which reportedly isn't making the HD viewers who saw the show in widescreen last year very happy. Anyway, the 3-disc set will have commentary on the pilot, the season finale, and a few favorite episodes (like "The Pineapple Incident" and "Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M."), a video yearbook, and a blooper reel. You can pre-order it on Amazon here.

Well, I suppose that heading could have been a little more specific, since our
ol' pal Flash has been seen in several live-action and animated incarnations since he first debuted on the comic pages
in the 1930s. In this case, I'm talking about the animated series from Filmation that aired from 1979 to 1981, which
IMDb has listed as The New Animated Adventures of Flash Gordon. I was quite young, so I don't remember this
particular cartoon, but apparently it ran for a total of twenty-four episodes, all of which will be included on
Flash Gordon - The Complete Series. You know, cause otherwise it would be called Flash Gordon - The
Incomplete Series, and nobody would want to buy that. Tom Ruegger, a writer for the series, would later go on to
write and produce for Steven Spielberg's Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and Freakazoid. The DVD set
will include a documentary and some audio commentaries. It comes out July 18.

Here's this week's podcast
episode for last night's episode of Lost: The 23rd Psalm. It's just me, no C.K., our AOL
overlords actually gave him time off for his birthday today, so that will probably gain us a lot more listeners (unless
you're an Apple freak). Our podcasts are meant to be listened to as commentaries, so cue us up and hit play right as you
start the episode, then listen for the signals to pause us for the commercials. This is the first episode after our
entirely too long six week break, so we're anxious to hear back from you guys, let us know what you think.